Invited Presenter

Richard E. Boyles ¹, Carolina Ballén-Taborda ¹, Gina Brown-Guedira ², Jose Costa ³, Christina Cowger ², Noah DeWitt ⁴, Carl A. Griffey ⁵, Stephen A. Harrison ⁴, Amir Ibrahim ⁶, Jerry Johnson ⁷, Jeanette Lyerly ⁸, David S. Marshall ², R. Esten Mason ⁹, Mohamed Mergoum ⁷, J. Paul Murphy ⁸, Nicholas Santantonio ⁵, Gautam Saripalli ³, Russell Sutton ⁶, Vijay Tiwari ³, David van Sanford ¹⁰, and Zachary J. Winn ⁹
1. Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Clemson University, Florence, SC, 29506, USA
2. Plant Science Research Unit, USDA-ARS SEA, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
3. Department of Plant Science and Landscape Architecture, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, 20742, USA
4. School of Plant, Environmental and Soil Sciences, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, 70803, USA
5. Department of Crop and Soil Environmental Sciences, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, 24060, USA
6. AgriLife Research, Texas A&M University, College Station, 77843, TX, USA
7. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Griffin, GA, 30223, USA
8. Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, 27695, USA
9. Soil and Crop Sciences Department, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO, 80523, USA
10. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, 40506, KY, USA
Corresponding Author: Richard Boyles, rboyles@clemson.edu

Richard Boyles

Tremendous progress has been made in variety development and host plant resistance to mitigate the impact of Fusarium head blight (FHB) since the disease manifested in the southeastern United States in the early 2000s. Much of this improvement was made possible through the establishment of and recurring support from the U.S. Wheat & Barley Scab Initiative (USWBSI). Through the USWBSI-sponsored Variety Development and Host Resistance Coordinated Project, an extensive field phenotyping effort for annual germplasm screening has become a staple tool for selection in public and private soft red winter wheat (SRWW) breeding programs. Dedicated efforts of many SRWW breeders to identify and utilize resistance genes from both native and exotic sources provided a strong foundation for improvement. In recent years, implementation of genomics-enabled breeding has further accelerated genetic gains in FHB resistance. This presentation reflects on the improvement of FHB resistance in southern SRWW and contextualizes the monumental progress made by collaborative, persistent, and good old-fashioned cultivar development. Finally, we will explore opportunities for continued progress in the 21st century based on knowledge accrued and shared by collaborative southern SRWW breeding programs. This expansive knowledge along with scientific advances, germplasm sharing, and cultivar development creates a solid foundation for future improvement of FHB resistance.